welkin

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Resolve to introduce the word enthusiasts in your family
to Merriam-Webster Unabridged this coming year.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged_sub.pl?refr=U_wod
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The Word of the Day for December 25 is:

welkin   \WEL-kun\   noun 
   *1 a : the vault of the sky : firmament b : the celestial abode of God or 
the gods 
: heaven 
     2 : the upper atmosphere 

Example sentence: 
     The pink sky at sunset brought to mind a quote from Shakespeare's _King 
John_: "The sun of heaven, methought, was loath to set / But stay'd and made 
the western welkin blush." 

Did you know? 
     When it comes to "welkin," the sky's the limit. This heavenly word has 
been used in English to refer to the vault of the sky since at least the 12th 
century, and it derives from an earlier word from Old English that meant 
"cloud." In modern English, "welkin" is still flying high, and it is often 
teamed with the verb "ring" to suggest a loud noise or an exuberant expression 
of emotion, as in "the welkin rang with the sound of the orchestra" or "her 
hearty laugh made the welkin ring." These contemporary phrases echo an older 
use -- the original words of a carol that once began "Hark, how all the welkin 
ring," which we now know as "Hark! The herald angels sing."